Yvonne Cuschieri with plans for the respite facility, which has been named in her memory. Photo: Supplied.
A respite centre’s bid for federal funding has been knocked back, with the facility now facing the possibility of sitting empty.
Queanbeyan resident Yvonne Cuschieri OAM formed an advocacy group after her son, Steven, was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
She and her husband became his carers and, following Steven’s death in 2013, Mrs Cuschieri started campaigning for a youth respite centre.
While Mrs Cuschieri continued to push for a respite centre until her death in 2021, the charity she helped launch continued the campaign.
Chair of Respite Care for QBN Paul Walshe said that, under the current situation, their long fight for funding was facing a disappointing ending.
“No-one wants to put up their hand and say, ‘Let’s make it happen,” he told Region.
It means their efforts might leave them with an empty building. The six-bed facility is on track to open, but sit unused and empty, without a last-minute intervention.
“I’ve been lobbying for over four years now … We’ve come down to the last month [of construction] and there’s still nothing,” Mr Walshe said.
“I don’t know what else I can do now. I’m at an end to know what could potentially happen after this.”
The facility, named Yvonne Cuschieri House in Mrs Cuschieri’s honour, hopes to offer respite care to Queanbeyan residents aged between 18 and 60 living with a terminal or chronic illness.
Mr Walshe previously told Region the board estimated it would cost $1.6 million a year to operate.
He said the lack of funding meant challenges had left Respite Care for QBN without an operator willing to take it on without that commitment.
“There’s basically no-one there to run it,” he said.
“If the government comes to the party, I think we’d have a lot of providers … putting their hand up and saying, ‘We can do this now.'”
In late May, he wrote on social media that Federal Health Minister Mark Butler’s office had confirmed the Federal Government wasn’t putting up funding for the facility.
Mr Walshe also told Region that while other politicians – Member for Eden-Monaro Kristy McBain and Member for Monaro Steve Whan – advocated for the project, they weren’t able to secure funding.
In response to questions from Region, a spokesperson for the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing said the government remained committed to improving access to respite care.
They said $1 million in funding was awarded to the Yvonne Cuschieri House in 2022, describing this as support for “the initial establishment of services”.
The spokesperson also pointed to funding arrangements with the NSW Government.
“The Australian Government provides significant funding to states and territories through the National Health Reform Agreement, recognising their primary responsibility for the delivery of palliative care in hospital and community health settings,” the spokesperson said.
“In January, the Australian Government secured a new hospital funding agreement, under which the Commonwealth is delivering an additional $25 billion in hospital funding to the states and territories including an additional $6.5 billion to New South Wales over five years.”
Mr Walshe said the board remained committed towards their model of respite care for younger Australians.
He was “uncomfortable” with the prospect of transitioning it into an aged care facility.
“That goes against the whole purpose of why we started … The purpose of this project was to get young people out of respite aged care, because of what Yvonne went through with her son.”
Mr Walshe warned “crunch time” had arrived for the future of Yvonne Cuschieri House.
“If the government came to us and said, ‘Look Paul, we would like to float this option and put it forward’ … I’m happy to sit down and have that discussion,” he said.
“But it’s been silence. … People just can’t make it work without government funding.”
